Railway passenger car



Feb. 1, 1944. J, w, PATTON 2,340,839

AY PAS SENGER CAR Filed Aug 2g' 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l mm1mulllllmll'mlmm Il FIGB INVENTOR A j lohn Wpclctor? BY Wfl@ 57 v ATTORNEY J. PATTON RAILWAY PASSENGER CAR Feb. 1, 1944.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ICrS ATTORNEY R mm .t WA@ [Wk/1 n fn k J Filed Aug.. v22, 1941 ...WM ff Patented Feb. 1, 1944 RAILWAY PASSENGERv CAR John W. Patton, Philadelphia, Pa., assigner to Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsyl- Vania Application August 22, 1941, Serial No. 407,853

2 Claims.

The invention relates to rail cars of the sleeper coach type and particularly to the arrangement at the ends thereof.

Such cars are intended for day and night service and are ordinarily provided with a cen- 1 tral main seating compartment having double rows of individually adjustable seats arranged along the opposite side walls of the car and spaced by a central aisle, and wash rooms arranged at the ends of the car and extending the width of the car except for a side aisle which communicates at one end with -a central door through the end wall of the car or the transverse inner wall of the vestibule, as the case may be, and at its other end with the central aisle. These wash rooms are ordinarily provided with a door in their aisle wall and a single toilet annex containing a hopper arranged in the corner of the car and communicating with the wash room proper by a door. The remaining wall space of the Wash room, excepting the window and door openings, is occupied by wash basins, sofas or chairs, dressing table, etc. The door to the was room is usually closed by a curtain.

Such wash room accommodations and arrangements do not provide the maximum of comfort and convenience to the relatively large number of passengers carried bythis type of car, as distinguished from the relatively few carried by the ordinary sleeping car provided with upper and lower berths at opposite sides of the car- It is an object of the invention to provide for greater comfort and convenience to passengers using this type of service and this object is attained in large part by the novel arrangement and use of the space at the ends of the car. Such novel arrangement may comprise the location of a locker for storage of pillows, etc. in the corner heretofore occupied by the toilet annex connected with the wash room and in the provision of a pair of separate toilet annexes each containing a hopper along the adjacent transverse Wallv of the wash room and communicating therewith by doors. In some cases, the doorway from the washroom to the aisle is screened by a vertical transverse partition extending into the wash room from the aisle. As a further comfort the passengers seated directly in line with the side aisle opposite the wash room are protected from drafts and/or light glare emanating from the side aisle by a transverse vertical partition longitudinally offset from the inner transverse Wall of the adjacent wash room and extending inwardly to the central aisle.

Other and further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in connection with the drawings forming a part hereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional plan view, the section being taken through the upper portion of the car, of a sleeper coach car according to the invention.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are detail perspective views, on an enlarged scale, as seen when looking in the directions indicated by the arrows a, b and c, respectively, of Figure 1, the shaded areas associated with the arrows 'on this figure indicating roughly the portion of the car appearing in each perspective view.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic sectionalA plan view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of Figure 1.

In the drawings, the car selected for illusstration is shown having the usual entrance and exit vestibule IB at one end, between the inner transverse wall I I of which and the opposite end wall I2 of the car and the opposed side walls I3 and Iii is arranged the passenger accommodation space. Central doorways I5 and I6 afford access to this space through the walls II and I2, respectively.

The greater part of this space is occupied by the central passenger seating compartment designated generally by I'I along the opposite sides of which are arranged the double rows of individually adjustable seats I8 spaced from each other by the central aisle I9. To provide the maximum comfortable seating capacity the rows of seats on the opposite sides of the aisle are stag-- gered as appears in Figure 1. The seats are also reversible so as to face in either direction.

The ends of the passenger accommodation space are generally similarly arranged, and provided with spacious washrooms, designated generally by reference numerals 2i] and ZI arranged along the opposite side walls I 3 and I4 of the car, respectively, and spaced from the opposite side wall by the side aisles 22. The wash room 29 at the left is shown furnished for use by men and the wash room 2I at the right'for women.

Each wash room is spaced inwardly from the end wall II or I2 of the passenger accommodation space to provide a space for the inward opening of the end wall doors and a passageway from these doors to the adjacent side aisles. Each wash room is bounded by an outer transverse wall 23, an inner transverse wall 24, the Iadjacent side wall I3 or I 4 of the car and the opposite aisle wall 25. The spaces in the opposite corners of the car ends'between theouter wash room end walls 23 and the adjacent passenger space end walls II or I2 are conveniently usable as lockers 26 having doors 2l. These lockers provide ample room for the storage of pillows, etc. provided for the comfort of the passengers, when not in use.

Each wash room is further provided adjacent its outer transverse wall 23 with two separate toilet annexes 28, 29 arranged side by side and each provided with a hopper 39. A transverse wall 3I separates the adjacent pair of annexes and doors, such as the sliding doors 32, afford access thereto from the wash room space proper. With this arrangement of locker and toilet annexes very economical use is madey of the space available and adequate facilities for the comfort and convenience of the relatively large number of passengers carried by the car are provided.

Each of the wash rooms may be further provided with three Wash basins 33 arranged along the outside car wall, as I3 or I4, a movable chair, as 34, and in the mens room at the left, a sofa 35 arranged along the aisle wall 25, and in the womens room at the right, a dressing table 36 in the same location, along which can be arranged the movable chairs 31. A doorwayr 39 opens into the wash rooms from the aisle walls between the interior appointments just described and the toilet annexes 29. This doorway may be closed by a hinged door as shown or a movable curtain.

To provide greater privacy in the wash rooms and to screen the greater part thereof from the aisle, a transverse partition' 38' is provided extending inwardly from the side of the doorway 38 opposite the toilet annexes a distance to afford an elective screen cutting off a greater part of the room from the view of persons passing through the aisle, if the door or curtain normally closing the aisle door happens to be open or par tially open. This partition extends from floor 4I to ceiling 42 as shown in Figure 4 and is rigidly secured thereto, thus stiiening and strengthening the walls of the wash room. In Figure l this partition is shown in full lines only in the Womens room at the right, but it may obviously be employed also in the mens room at the left, as indicated in dotted lines.

Ordinarily, there may be a rush of air through the side aisles 23 from the end doors I5 and I6 when they are opened and such air draft may be a source of annoyance and discomfort to the passengers seated at the ends of the passenger compartment in line with the side aisles. Also, usually a light is kept burning in the side aisle during the night and the glare from this may also be a source of discomfort and annoyance to said passengers, disturbing their sleep. To obviate both these sources of annoyance and discomfort, a vertical transverse partition 39 is provided adjacent the inner end of each side aisle 23 but spaced therefrom to alford communication with the central aisle from the side aisle, this partition extending inwardly from the adjacent car side wall I3 or I4 to the center aisle I9 and preferably from the floor 4I to the ceiling 42, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and is rigidly secured thereto. This partition, so extended and secured, also stlens and strengthens the car structure and provides a means for secure attachment of the end of the baggage rack 49, see Figures 2 and 3.

What is claimed is:

1, A railway passenger car comprising a passenger compartment and a longitudinally adjacent room such as a washroom, said passenger compartment extending over the entire width of the car and having seats along its opposite side walls separated by a central aisle; said room extending from the one side wall of the car over the greater portion of its width, being separated by a side aisle from the other side wall of the car and having at its end adjacent the passenger compartment a first transverse Wall extending between said first-named side wall and said side aisle; said transverse wall forming a part of the end wall of said passenger compartment in the region of the central aisle and on that side of the latter remote from the side aisle; the other part of the end wall of the passenger compartment being formed by a second transverse wall extending from the other side Wall, that is, the side wall along the side aisle, to the adjacent side of the central aisle, said second transverse wall being longitudinally spaced from said rst transverse wall (in the direction toward the interior of the passenger compartment) so aS to form a short narrow transverse connecting passage between said side aisle and the central aisle of the passenger compartment and providing an entrance opening to the passenger compartment arranged in the longitudinal direction oi' the car along one of the sides of the central aisle; the seats extending on both sides of the central aisle to the respective end wall, that is, on the one side further than on the other side; the arrangement providing for the maximum seating capacity and protection of the passengers seated in line with the side aisle from air currents passing through the side aisle or light rays from a source of light usually provided in the side aisle.

2. In a passenger car; a passenger compartment; an end wall provided with a central entrance opening; a rest or washroom between said passenger compartment and said end wall, said room being formedby part of one of the outer side walls of the car, two transverse inner partition walls and alongitudinal inner partition Wall; said longitudinal partition wall being spaced from the other outer side Wall of the car and one of said transverse partition walls being spaced from said end wall so as to form respectively a narrow side aisle and a short narrow transverse passage between said side aisle and said central opening in the end wall as well as storage space accessible from said passage; a pair of toilet annexes arranged side by side in said rest room along the transverse partition wall next to the end wall and between the rst-named side wall and the longitudinal partition wall, said annexes being separated by a transverse partition from and each having a doorway communicating with the main portion of said rest room; the doorways of said toilet annexes being arranged close together near the middle of said last-named partition and spaced respectively from said first-named side wall and said longitudinal partition Wall; an entrance opening in said longitudinal partition wall connecting the side aisle and the rest room, said opening being arranged adjacent the toilet annexes; a partition on the side of said lastnamed opening remote from the annexes, extending into the rest room for a distance about equal to the distance between the longitudinal partition wall and the doorway opening of the annex located next to the side aisle so as to form a short transverse connecting passage between said side aisle and the interior of said washroom; the entire arrangement providing for ample toilet facilities at a location least obnoxious to the occupants of the passenger compartment, for a main part of the rest room having much Wall space for the arrangement of Wash facilities owing to the arrangement of the doorways and entrance opening, for the protection of the interior of the main part of the rest room against visibility, draft and light from the side aisle through the entrance opening on accountl of the arrangement of the latter and of the partition, and for storage space, and all this Without materially decreasing the space available for the passenger compartment.

JOHN W. PATION. 

